New $5 Million a Month Ad Fraud Hijacks Real CTV Device Sessions

Cash money DoubleVerify ad fraud CTV

A new ad fraud scheme called SneakyTerra that manages to hijack real CTV Devices and could have cost advertisers more than $5 million, has been uncovered.

SneakyTerra purchases a real impression and then inserts impression trackers from multiple ads into one creative response from an ad server. When an actual CTV receives the response, all impression trackers respond, generating multiple impressions.

Also Read: DoubleVerify Report Highlights CTV Fraud

Double Verified said its DoubleVerified Filtering and Fraud Lab detected and helped clients avoid being victims of the fraud.

“Fraud follows the money, and the revenue opportunities in CTV are growing rapidly,” said Mark Zagorski, CEO at DoubleVerify. “In 2020 alone, DoubleVerify identified more than 10 SSAI schemes, and we’re seeing fraudsters execute increasingly sophisticated, larger schemes meant to divert more revenue from unprotected advertisers. Trusted, independent measurement is critical in the CTV space to give global brands confidence in their CTV buys.”

As CTV has grown and begun attracting millions if ad spending for high-priced, premium inventory, fraudsters have moved in with increasingly sophisticated schemes.

A month ago, DoubleVerify identified ParrotTerra, which was on track to steal $30 million to $50 million in ad dollars. 

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.